Riots at 2 California prisons send 11 inmates to hospital

SACRAMENTO - Authorities say riots at two state prisons involved hundreds of inmates and sent 11 to the hospital.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says 134 inmates began rioting shortly after 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, in the Central Valley.

Many had handmade weapons.

Guards used pepper spray and other non-lethal weapons to quell the incident but rioting broke out less than a half-hour later at Avenal State Prison, about 10 miles away.

Authorities say about 80 inmates were involved and guards broke up the fighting within minutes.

Eleven inmates from both prisons were taken to hospitals but there’s no word on their conditions.

Seven other Pleasant Valley prisoners were examined in the prison’s medical clinic.

There’s no immediate word on what sparked the riots.